From Romero's Disgust To Serious Sam's Return! News Roundup June 25th

The fallout from id Software’s acquisition by ZeniMax Media continues to rage today, with a co-founder twittering his opinion on the matter. And in other news, Gearbox Software trademark four ‘War Hero’ titles in preparation for a potential new game announcement; Crackdown 2 will be developed by half of its former staff; Mythic and Bioware combine forces; and Serious Sam returns on Xbox Live Arcade. Phew!

Gearbox Preps War Hero

Gearbox Software, developers of the Brothers in Arms series, has trademarked four titles, each an alteration of ‘War Hero’. The titles share a vague similarity to Activision’s Guitar Hero and Modern Warfare games, with Gearbox perhaps hoping to gain some indirect brand awareness.

The four titles Gearbox trademarked are, ‘War Hero’, ‘World War 2 Hero’, ‘Modern War Hero’, and as a subtitle for their Brothers in Arms series. Either these titles are for a completely new game or for a modern retelling of Brothers in Arms. Time will tell. [Eurogamer]

John Romero ‘Disgusted’ By id Acquisition

Co-founder of id Software and infamous big-mouth John Romero has been twittering his ‘disgust’ of his former company’s acquisition by ZeniMax Media. Romero’s ‘disgust’ was then mitigated with a rather formal sounding update from Romero, claiming he is now happy with the deal, and that he was ‘sorry’ for his earlier remarks.

Sounds like some ZeniMax lawyers flew to his Twitter, threatened to throw him from his nest unless he apologised publically. Romero, who co-created Doom and the critical disaster Daikatana, is well-known for his bold claims and irrepressible personality in the game’s industry. [1up]

Half Of Former Team On Crackdown 2

Ruffian Games, the recently forged development house hand-picked by Microsoft to build Crackdown 2, claims it has half the staff who worked on the original while at Real Time Worlds. Bill Thompson, Creative Director and former RTW employee, assured fans core members of the original design team are onboard.

Real Time Worlds admitted to being somewhat upset by Microsoft handing development to newcomers Ruffian instead of the original team, but Ruffian’s Producer, Jim Cope, believes the two companies maintain a strong working relationship. [Joystiq]

Mythic and Bioware Merge, Keep Names

EA has announced developers Mythic and Bioware will combine into a single development house, but will keep their respective names. Bioware chief, Ray Muzyka, will lead the new team, which is expected to combine their talents in the MMO and RPG markets.

Sadly, in the aftermath of the merger Mythic founder Mark Jacobs has left, although the exact circumstances are unclear. Whether Jacobs left because he was unhappy with the merger or simply because he felt it was the right time remains to be seen.[VG247]

Serious Sam Surfaces On Live Arcade

Serious Sam, the comic action-hero shooter, is to be polished and ported to Xbox Live Arcade. Developer CroTeam have re-tooled the CroTech Engine to deliver Serious Sam: First Encounter. It will be released in late Summer, for a price of 1200 Microsoft Points, equating to £10.20. [Kotaku]